Parliament has risen for February Recess which means that this week I am working in Cornwall and look forward to being out and about speaking to as many people as possible about my work and your priorities for me as your MP.
I am currently running a survey on your priorities for 2024,
which readers are very welcome to fill out – you can find this on my website
via the link below:
https://www.stevedouble.org.uk/st-austell-and-newquay-constituency-2024-priorities-survey
Last week was a really busy and varied one, and I was
pleased to welcome two Ministers and the Prime Minister to our constituency to
discuss a variety of issues, including apprenticeships, flooding, and, with the
Prime Minister the launch of the Government’s NHS Dental Recovery Plan.
Access to NHS dentist services continues to be one of the
issues raised with me most often by local people and this is something I have
spent considerable time collecting evidence on and lobbying the Government for
change.
The Prime Minister has listened, and last week the
Government launched the NHS Dental Recovery Plan, which will create 2.5 million
more NHS dental appointments over the next year.
This will have a big impact on the delivery and availability
of NHS dental services in Cornwall. For example, the practice the Prime
Minister visited, Gentle Dental, does treat NHS patients, some of whom I met
last week, but is currently not taking new adult NHS patients, only children,
due to lack of capacity, hence making waiting lists much longer – an issue we
see throughout Cornwall. The changes and funding announced via the NHS Dental
Recovery Plan will enable dentists to take new NHS patients on, reducing the
waiting lists and making NHS dental treatments more widely available for all.
Backed by £200 million of new Government funding, the NHS
Dental Recovery Plan sets out a package of measures to deliver 2.5 million
additional NHS dental appointments over the next 12 months, ensuring they are
where they needed most, and expanding preventative care for younger children to
help reduce tooth decay.
To help improve access in the short term, new dental vans
are being launched to help reach more isolated communities, including in rural
and coastal areas. In the longer term, around 240 dentists will be offered
one-off payments of up to £20,000 for working in under-served areas for up to
three years, helping to attract new NHS dentists and improve provision of care
in areas with the highest demand.
Further measures include introducing a New Patient Premium
payment to incentivise dentists to treat around a million new patients who have
not seen an NHS dentist in two years or more. The scheme will be introduced
within weeks, ensuring that patients can benefit immediately. The minimum value
of activity will also increase from £23 to £28 and high-performing practices
will also be able to deliver extra work on top of their contracted activity,
ensuring that NHS work is more attractive to dental teams.
Trainee dental places will be expanded by 40 per cent as
part of the first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, as the Government looks to
target the expansion into areas of the country such as Cornwall which are underserved by the
dental workforce.
Expanded prevention care is also being rolled out for
younger children to help reduce tooth decay and improve the nation’s oral
health. The Smile for Life programme will offer parents-to-be further advice
for baby gums and milk teeth with babies and toddlers in nurseries having tooth
brushing as part of the daily routine, so that every child in primary school
will see tooth brushing as a normal part of their day.
The Government will consult on wider reforms to the dental
workforce and contract in 2024, taking the long-term decisions to ensure that
dental services can be there for families for the years to come.
There is more to do and I will continue to push for further
reform in order to ensure residents of Cornwall are able to access NHS dentists
wherever they live, but in the meantime these steps will help in improving the
access we currently have, and as ever, as your MP it is good to be able to
highlight these concerns and push for the change that we need with the Prime
Minister when he visited Cornwall.
As ever, if I can be of assistance on any matter, my office
is available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance – tel: 01726
829379 or email: office@stevedouble.org.uk
